Musselburgh Racecourse

Musselburgh
Aerial view of Musselburgh Racecourse
LocationMusselburgh, East Lothian
Date opened1816
Screened onRacing TV
Course typeFlat
National Hunt
Notable racesWilliam Hill Scottish Sprint Cup, Royal Mile Handicap
Official website

Musselburgh Racecourse is a horse racing venue located in the Millhill area of Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland, UK, close to the River Esk. It is the second biggest racecourse in Scotland (the first being Ayr) and is the fourteenth biggest in the UK.[1] In 2016, Musselburgh staged 28 fixtures.[2] It was officially known as "Edinburgh Racecourse", and referred to as such in the English press, until the beginning of 1996[3][4] but was widely referred to as "Musselburgh" in Scotland long before that[5] and was widely referred to as Musselburgh in the racing pages of Scottish newspapers.[6]

The course is right-handed, with sharp bends, and offers both flat racing and National Hunt meetings (though it only introduced jumping in 1987), with the flat course being about 1m 2f round, and the jumps course slightly longer. The flat course has a straight course of five furlongs which joins the round course four furlongs from home. There are eight fences on the national hunt course, four in each straight.

In the middle of the course is a nine-hole golf course, Musselburgh Links, dating from at least 1672. The Royal Musselburgh Golf Club was founded there in 1774.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference LeagueTable was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference ScottishRacing was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Edinburgh", The Times page 26, 18 December 1995
  4. ^ "Musselburgh", The Times page 35, 12 January 1996
  5. ^ "Lord Rosebery Replies to Levy Board", The Times page 4, 10 April 1963 - "Musselburgh (Edinburgh) ... race meetings at Musselburgh"
  6. ^ "To-day at Musselburgh", The Glasgow Herald page 11, 22 April 1963